1. Field of Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to port controllers, and more specifically to scalable port controller architecture supporting data streams of different speeds.
2. Related Art
A port refers to a physical location/component provided on a digital processing system for interfacing with external devices. Ports are often provided as one of a socket/receptacle and a plug, with the interfacing external device using the other one of the socket and the plug, such that the connection path between the two can be physically secured during communication. However, alternative physical structures forming a port can also be used to secure the physical communication path between the digital processing system and the external device.
A port controller is often provided associated with a port in a digital processing system. While ports provide for physical connectivity, port controllers are designed with various protocol specifications to facilitate transfer of signals (digital or analog) through port(s) (points of access) of a digital processing system. The protocols specification often include the electrical specifications (e.g., which indicates when there is a valid data transfer), data specifications (when a signal represents a specific data/bit value), and higher level aspects (e.g., flow control, packet definitions, etc.).
Port controllers often receive data streams from external devices via the corresponding ports. A data stream refers to a sequence of values (e.g., bits or bytes) sent by the external device consistent with the various interface specification.
The data streams may be of different speeds, which may depend upon one or more of factors such as the speed supported by the external device, bandwidth available on a path between the external device and the port controller, the number of streams (and their aggregate rate capacity) being supported by a port controller simultaneously, etc.
It is generally desirable to have a scalable port controller architecture, designed to support data streams of different speeds.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.